AgustaWestland 'scam': Supreme Court seeks CBI's response on bail plea of Christian Michel James

The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the CBI on a plea filed by alleged middleman Christian Michel James seeking bail in the alleged Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam case.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Justice P B Varale sought a response from the central agency within four weeks.

James had challenged the September 25 order of the Delhi High Court, declining him bail.

The CBI claimed the accused, James is the alleged middleman in the deal.

The AgustaWestland case involves a 2007 contract signed by the government to buy 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, and former prime ministers

Michel, the British citizen, was extradited to India on December 5, 2018 from the UAE. On his arrival in India, he was arrested by the CBI and days later, arrested by the financial probe agency, the ED. Since then, he has been lodged in judicial custody at Tihar Jail.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

Michel is among the three alleged middlemen probed in the case with the other two being Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The Enforcement Directorate, in its chargesheet filed against James in June, 2016, in a related money laundering case, alleged he had received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

On February 7, 2023, the top court denied bail to James while rejecting his submission that he had completed half of the maximum sentence in the cases.

Previously, the high court dismissed his bail applications in both the CBI and ED cases in March, 2022.

(With PTI inputs)